Franklin's ships private search group faces legal threat

A private group that had planned to search the Northwest Passage for Sir John Franklin's long-lost ships is now facing the threat of criminal charges from the Nunavut government.

The group, which includes marine archaeologist Rob Rondeau from ProCom Diving Services in Alberta, has been preparing to search this month for the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which disappeared in the High Arctic more than 160 years ago.

Rondeau's team was to launch from the Nunavut hamlet of Taloyoak, using remote-controlled vehicles and other technology to look for the missing ships.

But Julie Ross, an archaeologist with the Nunavut government, told CBC News she's upset that Rondeau's team tried to start searching last week, even though it had been denied a territorial archaeological permit.